Addressing African Americans Incarcerations in Wisconsin

Milwaukee Experiment The seeming injustice of so many African-American males serving time in prisons has been seen as a national problem for a long time. But the report in The New Yorker about the ratio of black males in prisons in Wisconsin shows a problem that is considerably greater than the national picture. This paper delves into that issue, and reports on what one prosecutor is trying to do about the situation. In Wisconsin, African-Americans are only 6% of the entire population, but they constitute 37% of all imprisoned persons.

Of all the African-American males in Wisconsin, studies completed in 2010 show that 13% of them are in prison; and worse yet, in Milwaukee County " .. more than half of African-American men in their thirties had served time in state prison" (Toobin, 2015). The article that points out that Milwaukee County's District Attorney, John Chisholm, who is fully aware of course of the power and authority that prosecutors have, decided to allow independent researcher review how he and his staff implemented justice.

It became clear that large percentages (41%) of white defendants busted with drug paraphernalia were not prosecuted -- but only 27% of black defendants were not prosecuted for the same crime. The same disproportionate situation existed between white and black women accused of prostitution. Given that disparity, and the recent widely publicized incidents in which white police officers are videotaped shooting black suspects, Chisholm decided to " .. undertake initiatives to try to send fewer people to prison" (Toobin, 26).

In particular, Chisholm's research showed those low-level drug offenders that were clearly not a threat to the public did not deserve long prison sentences. The action that he took was, in hindsight, a democratically themed strategy to incorporate more fairness in the community. He began stationing prosecutors in neighborhoods around Milwaukee, and began looking very closely at every case to determine whether or not it should be prosecuted.

The article also goes into the national problem of "mass incarcerations among African-Americans" in America, the highest rate in the world; and it points out that blacks only make up 13% of the country but they are nearly 40% of the prison population. The article also mentions how little Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker has done to relieve the injustice in prisons vis-a-vis blacks. In fact his administration has been busy cutting funds for education, fighting unions, and has worked " .. to expand gun rights" (Toobin, 28).

Meanwhile, Chisholm's program ("early intervention") gives arrested defendants the chance to complete an assessment questionnaire; and if the score on the questionnaire is low, that defendant may quality for "diversion," which is an "unofficial probation" that can remove the stigma of the arrest record (Toobin, 28). A high score leads to another questionnaire, including 54 questions, and this too can lead to "deferred prosecution," Toobin explains. The whole point is to send fewer men to prison, given the racial imbalance in prisons; and the.